The missing link: Why escaping poverty in Miami takes more than money

For Beatrice Regina Thomas, stability wasn’t just about having a roof over her head; it was about having a network, too. After losing her mother and being priced out of Liberty City, Thomas was sleeping in her truck when a chance encounter changed her life.

“I was tired. I cried myself to sleep,” she recalled. “I parked right there (outside Liberty Square), and then Nathaniel Joseph came knocking on my truck. He said, ‘You ain’t all right. Come on in here.’”

That knock from Joseph, community liaison manager for The Related Group, led Thomas to housing at the renovated Liberty Square. With it came opportunities and a support system she’d never had.